Smartphone usage has skyrocketed at sporting events , as anyone who 's attended a recent game can tell you . Look around the stands and you 'll see fans checking stats , sharing pictures on social media , or just killing time between plays .

While stadiums have boosted cellular and Wi-Fi infrastructure to keep fans connected during games , there 's always the possibility that there wo n't be enough bandwidth for everyone . That 's why on Super Bowl Sunday , the NFL is planning to block live streams of the game inside the stadium .

Super Bowl XLVIII , between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks , will be streamed by NFL.com and Fox Sports , but both of those sources will be blocked on the Wi-Fi and cellular networks at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey , NFL CIO Michelle McKenna-Doyle told Ars in a phone interview . The NFL.com and Fox Sports blocks will be implemented both for mobile apps and within Web browsers .

The decision stems from last year 's Super Bowl , when streaming was initially allowed but eventually blocked when it took up too much bandwidth .

`` We -LSB- blocked -RSB- it last year , but we did it on the fly when we started having some challenges . This year we planned ahead to do it , '' McKenna-Doyle said .

She said the 82,500-seat stadium will be able to handle 25,000 to 30,000 concurrent Internet users across cellular and Wi-Fi . The NFL did n't tell us what the anticipated speeds are because Verizon , which led the Wi-Fi and cellular buildout , preferred to keep that information under wraps . But the plan is to prioritize upload speeds over download because fans generally spend a lot of time posting photos and statuses to social media .

The NFL is providing a Super Bowl app to attendees with an event guide and `` exclusive content , '' but it wo n't include streaming video or replays .

`` While we do know that people like to look at replays on their phones and there are some people who like to stream certain amounts of video in the game , the vast majority of our fans want to watch the game on the field , watch the replays on the jumbo board , and participate in the event more than they want to be checking their phone , '' McKenna-Doyle said .

`` While we could have made some of that available , it might have impacted the ability for the majority of the fans to be able to stay connected to social media , tweet , Facebook , that kind of thing . ''

Big games , big network usage

At last year 's Super Bowl , the Wi-Fi network stayed up even during the infamous mid-game power outage . While some attendees told Ars after last year 's game that Wi-Fi access was problematic at times , a broadcast engineer we spoke with measured the network at 23Mbps down and 44Mbps up .

It 's common at high-density events for fans to have trouble sending text messages or uploading photos , McKenna-Doyle noted . Network congestion is especially pronounced at key moments of each game . While attending the final game of last year 's World Series at Fenway Park in Boston , I was able to upload , e-mail , and text photos on the cellular network during the game . Immediately after the final out however , fans swarmed the network and uploads became impossible .

`` When you ca n't do the basics , it 's all of a sudden not that cool that you can show replays or stream the game , '' McKenna-Doyle said . `` It 's a fine balance . We 're pushing the envelope every year . As technology gets better and better I 'm willing to take more and more risks about what we allow . ''

McKenna-Doyle is optimistic that multicast technology , as opposed to the unicast tech used today , will limit the amount of data needed for streaming video at future Super Bowls .

`` A Unicast transmission/stream sends IP packets to a single recipient on a network . A Multicast transmission sends IP packets to a group of hosts on a network , '' explains network video Visionary Solutions .

But that wo n't be used at this year 's game , because multicast streaming is n't commonly supported on smartphones yet , McKenna-Doyle said .

Keeping fans connected

The Super Bowl restriction does n't mean live streaming is blocked at every NFL game . For example , the New England Patriots ' app provides access to NFL Red Zone video when users are connected to Gillette Stadium 's Wi-Fi network .

`` It depends on the stadium , '' McKenna-Doyle said . `` Each team manages every game themselves and they have mobile apps that they run . Some allow it based on their infrastructure , and some block it . ''

The Wi-Fi network , open to all fans , has about 900 access points , using Cisco equipment powered by the new 802.11 ac standard , according to the NFL . Verizon is providing the Internet connectivity , with about 4Gbps coming into the stadium . While Verizon is the lead vendor , all four major carriers invested in upgrading their Distributed Antenna Systems at the Super Bowl site , McKenna-Doyle said .

One nicety provided to attendees is a radio providing four audio feeds from Fox , Westwood One , ESPN Deportes , and the in-stadium public address . While it would be possible to provide audio feeds to a mobile app , McKenna-Doyle noted that `` We 've always given this radio for broadcast , and fans have told us they really love it . ''

As usual , the Super Bowl crew will use monitoring tools to identify hacker attacks on the network or technical problems that prevent fans from getting on the Internet . Monitoring user activity helps plan capacity for future events and fix problems as they arise .

Network monitoring tools divide the stadium into sectors , and this year `` we cut the stadium into more sectors than we had in the past so we can pinpoint more quickly where issues are in a section of the stadium , '' McKenna-Doyle said .

`` If we start to hear we 're having issues in a certain part , we can work on a smaller segment of the stadium without it impacting as many people . ''

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Fans wo n't be allowed to stream video on their phones at the Super Bowl

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NFL.com will stream the game , but it will be blocked at MetLife Stadium

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There 's a Super Bowl app , but it wo n't stream video

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League fears video could clog bandwidth